victims begin tomorrow captioning sponsored by cbs >> jeff: good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor in newtown, connecticut. for the fourth time in his presidency and the second time this year president obama has consoled the community hit by gun violence. there was ft. hood, there was tucson, there was aurora, and now newtown. the president arrived here late this afternoon. he met with victims' families and first responders. and tonight he attended a vigil at the newtown high school. >> newtown, you are not alone. these difficult days have unfolded. you've also inspired us, with stories of strength and

resolve and sacrifice. >> jeff: the president also called for change in that speech saying are we really powerless in the face of such carnage. tomorrow the first funerals will take place. and today we learned police said that friday's massacre could be have been much, much worse. here's jim axelrod. >> reporter: newtown is a place of sober reflection and crushing emotion. all day people walk slowly to this makeshift memorial to leave flowers, light a candle, shed their tears. >> they were babies, they were innocent babies and that is what makes it almost incomprehensible. >> reporter: at st. rose of lima catholic church where adam landsa, his mother and eight of his young victims all wore shipped parishners were comforted by a lantern flown from the church of the

nativity in bethlehem. but the in middle of mass a bomb threat, police emptied the church adding to the agony here. >> i don't think anything is worse than what happened in the school. >> reporter: this afternoon investigators towed away a black honda sick, the vehicle lanza drove to the school it was registered to his mother nancy, lanza's first victim. the police now say she was shot four times in the head as she slept. investigators described nancy lanza as demanding, a gun enthusiast who pressed her two boys hard, even at the range where she taught them to shoot. adam lanza, investigators say, was heavily armed when he arrived at the school. >> high capacity pag for the rifle, right, and multiple magazines for the rifle, and multiple magazines for both handguns. >> reporter: only the quick response of two policemen prevented even more carnage. when lanza saw them he ducked into a room and killed himself. in this town where angels

now mark the roads, funerals will begin for the victims of adam lanza like six-year-old jessica recognizeous who loved horses and had just asked santa for new cow girl boots and a cow girl hat. among the first funerals set for tomorrow will be the one for six-year-old noah pozner. noah's twin sister ariel was also at sandy hook elementary last week but she was in a different classroom. and jeff, she survived. >> jeff: jim axelrod, thank you. in wake of this inexplicable violence that left 28 people dead here there is a massive search for answers under way. john miller joins you now, again, john, we understand that postal inspectors are part of this investigation. why is that? >> well, that's right, jeff, and that has become part of the standard package, if you will, in these kinds of cases, based on experience in the virginia tech massacre, the shooter there had sent out a package containing a videotape with a long rambling message that

was destined for a television network, in the case in aurora, colorado, at the movie theatre james holmes had sent out a package with a spiral notebook that had his writings and pictures 6 what appeared to be him shooting at people. so what they want to do is get not mailboxes, get to the local post office, look for anything with the return address of the suspect so that they can intercept any communications that might contain evidence or more importantly a clue as to motive. >> john, investigators believe adam lanza, the shooter here smashed these two computers at his home. what more do we know about that. >> reporter: so he damaged the computers and the hard drives and the fbi's computary sis dance response team is going to look at those hard drives, damaged as they are, and try to determine if they can extract data from them f they can put them back together and communicate with them, they would like to mirror those hard drives and extract everything that son this computer. they are looking for two things. one they are looking for

internal saved documents that might contain the planning for in massacre, lists of things and supplies you needed to get. magazines, ammunition, second, the communications, where did he order these things from, were they mail order, were they through e-mail communications and so on. but anything that's going to give them a window into it. the fact that he damaged the computers is a signal to them that there is something in there they need to see. >> john miller at our broadcast center in new york, john, thank you. with 20 students murdered in friday's rampage, a question facing parents and teachers here now is how do students learn to feel safe again. michelle miller has that story rts good evening, jeff. just as officials announced today that newtown school was reopen on tuesday to all students except those who went to sandy hook elementary school, those students would return on wednesday. but to an entirely different location.

>> we'll accommodate our entire sandy hook school program. >> reporter: erica canfield got the news from an automated phone call that her 9-year-old son kenneth will be going to a new school. >> what do you fear the most? >> if he can move on with this, if he can trust again, go to school and learn and have fun with his friends again. >> reporter: kenseth a fourth grader at sandy hook elementary school which is only a few miles from his home. now he and the rest of his classmates will attend chalk hill school in monroe, connecticut. but kenneth's mom says he's hesitant. >> he said he won't go back unless there is a police officer at every door. >> kenneth was saved by his music teacher who locked the door before the gunman could get in. >> he heard screaming and gunshots and the room he was on, was being banged on by the gunman trying to get in. >> reporter: school officials started grief

counselling for students today. canfield hasn't sought counselling for her son yet. >> it's just really sad. they are like 6, 7 years old. >> reporter: but 17-year-old faaria ansari says she needs it. >> i definitely will take advantage of the counselling. >> what i fell parents is to look for any change in behavior. >> reporter: jeannie pasacreta creta is a child psychologist in newtown, she has been talking with grief stricten parents in newtown. >> what they want is to be told it's not going to happen to them. it's not going to happen to them. sadly, i can't tell them that. >> reporter: for now erica canfield said she won't rush sending ken toth his new school but she believes sendee hook elementary should never reopen. >> ever? >> no. i don't think so. what happened there is just, it's a nightmare.

>> reporter: now canfield is a district employee. she will joan her coworkers tomorrow afternoon for a mandatory meeting to discuss how they will handle all of those returning students. they also hope to reunit sandy hook elementary school staffers to thank them for all they did to protect the children. >> jeff: michelle miller, thank you. president obama insisted here in newtown tonight just a short time ago that he would use the power of his office to prevent more tragedies. but getting congress to pasacreta new gun laws has typically-- typically been easier said than done. here's dan raviv. >> some democrats speak of a 2i7ing point. new york center charles schumer on face the nation wants to renew the ban on assault weapons that expired eight years ago. >> the public will not accept as a new normal one of these incidents every month richard blum only thal wants to limit the size of

clips. >> i want to talk about it perhaps as early as this week. >> some speak of defying the national rifle association, a powerful lobby that favors gun ownership rights. republican louis gohmert of texas is an nra supporter. he says if more citizens had guns we would be safer, including the school principal murdered in newtown. >> i wish to god she had had an m-4 in her office looked up so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and she doesn't have to lung heroically with nothing in her hands but she takes him out. >> flags at federal buildings and at nra headquarters are at half-staff but no comment from the nra telling cbs news there still aren't enough facts about the connecticut crime. fear of the lobby might be exaggerated but it does oppose almost any new regulations, political analyst norman ornstein. >> no member of congress no mat other how safe wants to have some group pouring millions of dollars in dedicated to smearing them or defeating them.

>> reporter: we may see a test of strength between two washington power centers, a lobby, the nra and legislators who feel they've got to do something. dan raviv, cbs news at the capitol. >> jeff: still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", a warrant's worst fear not realized. stories of survival and sacrifice in newtown. and we'll take a critical look back at an effort to stop gun violence in california.

>> briefly in other news outside the syrian cap tafl damascus tonight, warplanes fired on a palestinian refugee camp, activists say at least 25 people were killed taking shelter in a mosque there and to the north rebels say they won a key battle taking an infant ree base in aleppo, the country's largest city. more than 40,000 syrians have been killed since an uprise-- uprising against president bashar assad began 21 months ago.

and in egypt voters in the first round of ballotting have approved a new draft constitution. there is another round of voting next weekend. and allen pizzey is in cairo. >> protestors are still camped out in tahrir square but the chanting is on hold. early resultses from the first round of the constitutional referendum show a farrow lead for the ruling party. the turnout was solid and the atmosphere serious. though opposition reporters say some they were obstructed. polling booths had to stay open 4 years after closing time. the issues are complex and to understand them all egyptians would have to wade through a 63 page document. but once they are in the polling booth, voters are presented with a simple choice, agree or disagree. criticism that the new islamist oriented constitution tramples on women's rights didn't bother voter umm mohammed. >> every egyptian who is loyal to egypt should come out and vote yes, she said. >> reporter: across town in an affluent neighborhood,

omar mam odd had a different view. >> is a constitution that does not represent what i think is egypt. >> voters groups today called for a repeat of the first round because many polling booths were not monitored by judges as required by law. the second and final round of voting is scheduled for next weekend. allen pizzey, cbs news, cairo. >> she was the victim of a prank phone call by two australian radio djs and committed suicide days later. today the body of jacintha saldanha arrived for burial. a nurse at a london hospital. she mistakenly forwarded a call she thought was from queen elizabeth and prince charles asking about the condition of kate middleton, the dush es of cambridge. for the first time she was hospitalized the pregnant duchess appeared in public this evening at an award show in london. she had been treated for severe morning sickness. >> we know there were heroes monday the victims of friday's school shooting here in newtown. ahead, one of their stories.

>> jeff: too many families here in newtown are preparing this evening to bury their loved ones. for other families with students at sandy hook elementary, what happened friday morning is a story of survival and sacrifice. peter van sant of 48 hours has that. >> like any other day, we got them on the bus, they went to school, and about quarter to 10 we received a phone call from the superintendent's office that there had been an unconfirmed school shooting. >> diane and robert licatta will two children inside sandy hook looment ree-- elementary school. >> i said i am going to drive by the school and see what is happening. >> reporter: their six-year-old son is in first grade. his teacher is vicky soto, known for her dedication to her students, vicky had just turned 27. >> she was an absolutely

amazing teacher. she just was so young and so full of life and educating got her so excited and teaching those children t was what she lived to do. >> reporter: their 7-year-old daughter is in the second grate. her classroom is just down the hall from her brothers. we were asked not to reveal the children's names. >> i saw my daughter's teacher and i asked her, you know, where my daughter was. and she said she didn't know because they were separated. >> reporter: then suddenly she spotted her daughter. >> she just said mommy, what's happening. i said i don't knows what's happening. so just stay with your class. and i said i'm going to wait here for our son to come out. and he didn't come. >> her son later told a remarkable story of the nightmare unfolding inside his classroom. when the shooting began, teacher vicky soto moved the children in classroom 10 against a wall, away from the door.

that's when the licatta's son came face-to-face with the gunman. >> they heard the noises. somehow the person was able to burst open the door. and basically at that point that's when they witnessed the-- his teacher be shot. they ran right by the shooter who was in the doorway, how they escaped we still to this day will never really know exactly how they managed to get past him. >> the children got out. but the young teacher who had apparently shielded her students was left dead. >> she is truly a hero. and its very likely because of her that our son is with us today. >> reporter: peter van sant reporting. on a web site teacher vicky soto once wrote, i look forward to an amazing year in first grade with my amazing students in room 10. school shootings are nothing new in this country. ahead how another attack led

to change in california

>> jeff: in the san francisco bay area this weekend police collected more than 500 handguns as part of a holiday gun buyback. that's one approach meant to reduce gun violence in california. lee cowan tonight reports on another effort that came in response to a 1989 school shooting. >> when it happened at cleveland elementary in stockton california some 23 years ago many thought a school shooting couldn't get any worse. a troubled man with an assault rifle killed five

students and wounded 29 others. while it sadly wasn't the last or even worse school shooting in the country, it did lead to california's ban on assault weapons. the first in the nation. it wasn't a perfect solution. in the eyes of gun enthusiasts but at least the ban was an effort to do something to stem the violence. in the wake of connecticut, many california leaders wonder where that resolve is today. >> if not after this, then seriously just shame on all of us, seriously, shame on the leadership of this country. >> reporter: gavin newsom is california's lt. governor but his current anger stems from being a parent more than a politician. >> this has to be the moment where you say stop, enough is enough. i do not want to read about these things any more. the second the, the biggest, the worst, this-- enoughs. >> reporter: enough indeed, but just how to stop it. critics say over the years even california's assault weapons ban lost a lot of its teeth. and besides, there have been other school shootings with other kinds of guns.

>> the most recent just last april, at a small christian university in oakland. >> in a state that once lead the nation on gun control, residents are once again scratching their heads. >> you can't just say you're going to ban guns because that genie is out of the bottle already. >> reporter: i wish i knew an answer. i know that something has to change. because this can't go on like this. >> what is going on are the rituals of grief. sadly those haven't changed much either. lee cowan, cbs news, los angeles. >> jeff: at first we knew them only as a number, 26. and later by names. ahead a loving glimpse of one life lost.

>> jeff: we are learning more about the lives that were suddenly taken last friday. among themana marquez greene. ana was just six years old. she and her family recently

moved from canada to connecticut. ana an her brother isaiah attended sandy hook elementary together. he survived, she did not. a video posted by the family now has gone viral. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ona marquez greene one of many lives cut way, way two short that is the "cbs evening news" tonight's, i'm jeff glor, cbs news in newtown, connecticut. scott pelley is back tomorrow night. good night.

captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org to try to make sense of the elementary school massacre. local churches honored the victims. coast to coast people head to houses of worship. and the connecticut school shooting renews the did he bit over gun control. the bay area lawmaker pushing for a assault weapons ban. and down right freezing temperatures. just how cold it's going to get and the one day we might be rain free. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ,,